Higgins credits community with Tonawanda Coke verdict

by jmaloni

Submitted

Wed, Mar 19th 2014 11:35 pm

Higgins pleased
with decision to keep fines in Western New York

Congressman
Brian Higgins is crediting an engaged, enraged and educated community with Wednesday's
sentencing decision in federal court, which brought some justice to a community
he said has suffered extensively as a result of Tonawanda Coke's criminal
neglect.

"The
fines could never be steep enough for the cost to this community and its
residents, but we are pleased that Tonawanda Coke will be made to pay for their
negligence, and more than $12 million in fines will be kept here where the psychological,
physical and property damage occurred," Higgins said.

He
credits residents with beginning the effort to get state and federal agencies
to take note of what they were witnessing in the vicinity of the plant and
credits Judge William Skretny for hearing the community's call for fines to be
reinvested into community service projects.

A past
criminal investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and New York
State Department of Environmental Conservation revealed the company employees
deliberately ignored environmental procedures, leading to the release of toxic
pollution at Tonawanda Coke.

As U.S.
Attorney Mango stated in court, Tonawanda Coke displayed a "catch me if you can
attitude." Thanks to the tireless, passionate and persistent community
advocates, Higgins said, Tonawanda Coke was caught and convicted.

Last
April, following successful litigation by the U.S. Attorney's office, Tonawanda
Coke and an employee were found guilty of violations to the Clean Air Act and
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for illegally releasing benzene, a
cancer-causing agent, into the air and improperly dumping toxic sludge into the
ground. Higgins called for the fines imposed in this case to be kept
here in the community, rather than returned to the federal
government.

This was
only the second successful criminal prosecution involving the Clean Air Act in
the entire nation.

In a
separate incident, a January explosion at Tonawanda Coke rocked local
neighborhoods, raising new concerns about safety and air quality. Higgins sent a letter to the EPA and Occupational
Safety and Health urging them to conduct an investigation into the incident. Investigations
by the NYSDEC, OSHA and EPA are currently underway. In a March 10 letter to Higgins, the EPA
confirmed it is conducting an investigation "to determine how the incident
occurred, and if there are any violations of the federal Emergency Planning
Community Right to Know Act, Superfund law or the Clean Air Act."

OSHA has told
Higgins' office that, due to the complexity of the case, it will take the full
six-month period to complete its investigation (July 30), after which it will
issue a citation.